A JAGUAR-HUNT ON THE TAQUARY 73 



of the field observer with the gift for recording what he has 

 seen becomes of far more importance. 



The long days spent riding through the swamp, the 

 "pantanal," were pleasant and interesting. Several times 

 we saw the tamandua bandeira, the giant ant-bear. Ker- 

 mit shot one, because the naturalists eagerly wished for a 

 second specimen; afterward we were relieved of all neces- 

 sity to molest the strange, out-of-date creatures. It was 

 a surprise to us to find them habitually frequenting the open 

 marsh. They were always on muddy ground, and in the 

 papyrus-swamp we found them in several inches of water. 

 The stomach is thick-walled, like a gizzard; the stomachs 

 of those we shot contained adult and larval ants, chiefly 

 termites, together with plenty of black mould and frag- 

 ments of leaves, both green and dry. Doubtless the earth 

 and the vegetable matter had merely been taken inciden- 

 tally, adhering to the viscid tongue when it was thrust 

 into the ant masses. Out in the open marsh the taman- 

 dua could neither avoid observation, nor fight effectively, 

 nor make good its escape by flight. It was curious to see 

 one lumbering off at a rocking canter, the big bushy tail 

 held aloft. One, while fighting the dogs, suddenly threw 

 itself on its back, evidently hoping to grasp a dog with 

 its paws; and it now and then reared, in order to strike 

 at its assailants. In one patch of thick jungle we saw a 

 black howler monkey sitting motionless in a tree top. We 

 also saw the swamp-deer, about the size of our blacktail. 

 It is a real swamp animal, for we found it often in the 

 papyrus-swamps, and out in the open marsh, knee-deep 

 in the water, among the aquatic plants. 



The tough little horses bore us well through the marsh. 



